Hey everyone, sorry for the longer update between chapters. My computer broke down so it's been harder to update and write. I wrote a majority of this chapter on my phone, which is why it's shorter than the other ones. I should be getting a new computer this week, so hopefully updates will be more frequent if college doesn't interfere too much. Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoy!

Citadel

2183

"Stop fidgeting and let me fix your damn hair, Skipper!"

Ashley Williams ran her hands through Shepard's long hair, which cascaded down her back like a ink-black waterfall, fixing any loose strands that splayed outward.

Even through the muffled walls of the restroom, Flux's club music pulsed through them. Shepard could feel the bass heavy in her bones as she inspected her red lipstick in the mirror; perfectly matching the color of her dress.

"I don't know, do you think I need more eyeshadow?" Shepard asked, turning to face Ashley.

Ashley waved her off.

"Your smokey-eye looks fine, it's your hair that I'm concentrating on. You got so much of it! You ever consider cutting it?"

Shepard gave her a stern glance.

"Never."

Ashley rolled her eyes.

"You chose the wrong profession to be this vain, Skipper," Ashley replied with a joking smirk."Too bad LT isn't around to see you, he'd probably faint."

Shepard felt a slight heat rise in her cheeks, turning her attention back to the bathroom mirror. She thought of Kaidan, currently being holed up on the Normandy because of his migraines and missing shore leave. She felt guilty to be off partying without him, and also a bit disappointed that he couldn't see her right now. She knew the probability of someone seeing her and taking photos of the first human Spectre to flood the extranet with gossip was high - she's sure Kaidan will see her wild night out with Ash in some scandalous tabloid.

The thought made her shake her head, realizing how silly it was for her to be worrying about things like this when Saren and his army of geth were still out there.

An asari couple walked in, visibly drunk and giggling. They found a empty stall and went in together.

"That's how we need to be," Ashley said, reapplying her lipstick.

"What? Dating?" Shepard questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Wh- no! Drunk! Very drunk! And I would never move in on LTs territory, not that I'm interested in women anyway." Ashley countered, sauntering her way past Shepard, and toward the exit. "Shall we get this shore leave started?"

The floor slightly spun, Shepard felt like she was swimming in a fishbowl. The lights flashes different, brilliant colors, and the music pounded relentlessly in her eardrums. She watched Ashley gracefully glide and step across the dance floor, her dress and hair swaying with her movements to the rhythm. Shepard felt more uncoordinated than usual, her movements choppy and erratic, but she couldn't seem to make herself care. She was enjoying herself, feeling like an everyday woman, and not a soldier trying to stop the Reapers from coming and destroying everything she'd come to know.

Ashley was dancing somewhat provocatively, getting attention from nearby patrons, thirsting for a chance to gain her attention. Shepard was in awe for a moment, wondering what it was like to absolutely capture a room's attention like Ashley did. Shepard wore makeup often and kept up with her appearance, but Ashley seemed so naturally beautiful and earthy - she didn't have to try to be noticed. By comparison Shepard wondered by Kaidan didn't show more attention to Ashley, instead he turned his attention to her.

Shepard had stopped dancing, motionless like the eye of a hurricane. The thought of Kaidan made her feel weak in the knees. She made an excuse about using the bathroom, and slipped away from the crowded dance floor. Back in the bathroom Shepard gripped the sink, wanting to splash cold water on her face to sober herself up, but didn't want to ruin her makeup. She felt ridiculous for having these thoughts, realizing how trivial it was to have girlish fantasies about beauty and being desired.

"I'm a soldier," she said aloud, staring at her reflection in the mirror sternly. "I'm from a well-respected Alliance family, I'm the first human Spectre!"

The reflection didn't seem very convinced. Her pale, freckled, cherub face stared back at her. She sighed, thinking about returning to her hotel room for the night. The room was still slightly spinning and the elation of being drunk was starting to wear off. At the same time she didn't want to abandon Ashley at Flux, she reluctantly decided she'd wait it out.

Shepard left the bathroom and picked a table. She watched Ashley dance for awhile longer until her teammate noticed that she had still not returned.

"What? You tired already?" Ashley asked as she slid into the chair across from Shepard.

"Just not feeling too well."

"So not only does your cardio need work, you also can't hold your liquor. I expected more from the great Commander Shepard," Ashley countered, raising a manicured eyebrow.

"I don't know, maybe I'm just not feeling it tonight." Shepard stared down at the table, shoulders slumping.

"Skipper, don't feel bad." Ashley placed a comforting hand on Shepard's bare shoulder. "I was teasing you, it's okay. I know you're under a lot of stress, but that's why we're here. To forget about it for a few days, remember?"

Shepard glanced up to look Ashley in the eye, only to see something lurking around the entrance of Flux.

There was a strange looking man headed toward them, his features had a grey hue, his posture unorthodox, and he had an unusual limping gait. He had eyes fixed on their table. He walked with his upper body leaning back almost too far, like he was a contortionist. Shepard felt uneasy and motioned for Ashley to look behind her.

"Ew, someone needs to take a cab home." Ashley commented.

The man continued slowly toward them, stumbling but his eyes never leaving hers. Unblinking. His lips set in an unsettling smile that was pulled too tight. The top of his foot dragged against the floor before taking a step, making his body seem rubbery and artificial. Most of the club-goers didn't even notice him, they were too focused on their own dancing and drinking. Others saw him and just laughed amongst themselves, thinking he was just a drunk.

Shepard felt herself break into a cold sweat; feeling a prickle on the back of her neck. She grabbed Ashley's hand and pulled her away from the table, hugging the wall to make sure she didn't get close to the man. She led Ashley to the exit and they left the Flux, jogging without looking back. They reached an isolated corridor of the Citadel before Ashley was finally able to slow her down.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa - hang on a second!" Ashley ripped her hand free, stopping. "Why did we just run out of there? Because of some drunk weirdo?"

"No, Ash, something isn't right," Shepard shook her head.

"You're paranoid." Ashley slurred slightly, turning on her heel. "I'm going back, I'm not cutting my shore leave short."

"Ash, please!"

"Skipper, come on-"

Ashley stopped in her tracks. Just in the distance was the strange man. He continued his stumbling pursuit, blocking their only way back to Flux.

"I don't know what your deal is, but you need to get the hell out of our way!" Ashley shouted. Despite her bravado, Shepard could see Ashley's hands tremble slightly.

The strange man went very still. A loud groan erupted from his mouth, causing Ashley to stumble backward, startled. The man's mouth began to open wide, wider and wider until his jaw became visibly unhinged. The guttural groans of pain grew louder, echoing down the Citadel's tight corridor. The snapping of bones followed as the creature began to transform before their eyes.

Ashley clasped her hands over her ears, the loud noises were a violent assault against her drunken senses. She let out a cry of pain and fear.

Shepard flared up her biotics, glowing blue, and leapt forward and struck the creature with a Shockwave. The creature went airborne, slamming relentlessly into a wall. Shepard didn't hesitate for it to gather itself, she grabbed Ashley's hand and led her in the opposite direction. This time the two women didn't stop running. A loud, monstrous shriek following, causing both of them to speed up their stride.

Ashley dared a glance over her shoulder once, horrified to see the shadow of the creature casting on the walls behind them. She ushered Shepard to find a different route, since the corridors of the Lower Wards would eventually lead to a dead end. Shepard followed Ashley's petrified gaze to see the shadow Ashley was stuttering on about - the creature's shape had completely changed. Now instead of the figure of a man, the creature was a monster on all fours, with extra limbs right below its giant head. The two frightened women didn't waste another minute, Shepard led them to rapid transport and hailed a cab to take them back to the apartments.

Back at Ashley's temporary rented apartment, the two women hid inside, the lights dimmed. Shepard pushed the dresser in front of the door, and made sure the lock was encrypted. Ashley sat on the bed, beside the window, peering out and scanning anxiously for the creature. The two women sat mostly in silence, their drunken stupor wearing off - leaving only nerves and the heightened senses of fight or flight.

"Shepard… what the fuck was that thing?" Ashley finally spoke, her voice a harsh whisper.

"How would I know?" Shepard replied, her voice also hushed.

She poured some water for them both, hoping to help sober them up even more and prevent a potential hangover. Ashley didn't take the glass, clearly too shaken up and focused on watching the outside.

"I've never seen anything like that in my life- like, what could that even be? Like that wasn't a hologram, that was real. I could smell it, Shepard." Ashley stammered.

"I know… it's the strangest thing, it's like I sensed it was dangerous, or that it was coming."

"Did you see what it was turning into?" Ashley spun around to face her commander. Tears pricked in the corners of her mascaraed eyes. "It's head started to grow, it's teeth were sharp, and eyes started to pop up all over its head-" Ashley shuddered, the memory disturbing her.

Shepard sat at the dining table, sipping her water. "I've never seen a metamorphosis like that. It didn't seem real."

"Hey, maybe we were drugged?" Ashley suggested.

Shepard shook her head. "How could we have the same hallucination? No… that creature was as real as you and me. We can return to the Normandy tomorrow just to be safe, and so I can access the Alliance database to see if there's some kind of explanation for what we experienced.

Ashley laughed humorlessly. "You're going to make a formal report on that thing? The brass will never believe us! They don't even believe us about Saren and the Reapers!"

"It's worth a try," Shepard sighed. "Besides, we were technically attacked and I had to use my biotics. If any security cameras caught us I have to be able to give an explanation why."

"What's the point of being a Spectre, then?" Ashley scoffed.

Shepard smiled weakly, trying to empathize with Ashley's frustration. What she couldn't tell Ashley was how scared the creature made her feel - she could feel coldness and darkness oozing from it. But putting that into an explanation that made sense would prove almost impossible - like describing the differences in colors to a blind person. She just knew like she did with the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. Although the communication was muddled, it was clearer to her than everyone else.

"I'm so damned tired, but I don't think I can fall asleep." Ashley muttered, hugging her knees.

"Get some rest, I'll keep watch."

"You sure?"

"Positive. I'm going to check the extranet and see if I can find any information." Shepard replied. She already had her omni-tool out.

Ashley fell asleep shortly after, curled up on the bed, still in her dress and glam. As her comrade dozed, Shepard searched for extranet articles on creature and shapeshifting animal sightings. Most sites brought her to conspiracy theories and mostly faked, outlandish stories. But Shepard didn't discount them, after all her encounter felt just as crazy as some of the claims being shared online. Web pages and articles about Shepard even popped up. The article mocked her claims about "seeing Reapers" through the Prothean beacon, stating she was using these false claims to gain notoriety, and to climb in the ranks of the Alliance. A comment on the article even speculated that her "crazy statements" were the reason that she was able to become a Spectre.

Suddenly angry closed her omni-tool. She waited in the stillness of the dark apartment for the artificial sunrise to appear in the Citadel's skyline. She wondered if she really was going insane, for the first time doubting what she saw all the way from Eden Prime to now. She shook her head, trying to not let negative public opinion, and a terrible published interview done by Khalisah al-Jilani get her down. She wished she wasn't the only person in the galaxy that saw what she did; she was a bit relieved that Ashley had witnessed what she did, but wondered if it was really worth it. They were the only two witnesses, and both were under the influence of alcohol.

Ash was right about the brass, they wouldn't believe me about this. They'll just say we drank some alien alcohol that messed with us, and probably make it harder for us to get another furlough. Shepard thought.

Shepard decided as Ashley begun to stir awake that she wouldn't make a report, or even mention what had happened to anyone. Not even Kaidan. She didn't want to risk any more credibility with an unbelievable story of a human male shape-shifting into a large monster with sharp teeth and hundreds or eyes. It didn't seem worth the exhausting explanation. As long as Ashley kept her mouth shut, Shepard would too.

Light streamed in through the window, causing Ashley to groan, grabbing the side of her head. Shepard stood up and went over to the small kitchen in the apartment to make coffee. Ashley sat up, visibly wobbly and uncomfortable from either a headache, or the dress she had fallen asleep in. She rubbed her eyes, smearing her makeup even more than it already was.

"For the love of God... it's so bright in here," she moaned.

"Some coffee will help," Shepard called from the kitchen, ignoring her own drowsiness that began to creep behind her eyes.

"I had the weirdest- not the scariest dream, Skipper. You won't believe it." Ashley started, moving the strands of loose hair from her eyes. "Actually... maybe it wasn't a dream? I don't know, it felt so real. I can't remember much from last night..."

Shepard stilled, knowing it was her perfect opportunity to deny the whole encounter, and make sure it remained only a nightmare.

"Tell me about it," Shepard answered, forcing a casual smile as she looked back at her friend.

After that day it was never brought up again, and Shepard rarely ever returned to the Lower Wards of the Citadel.